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Plato
Plato Born 428 or 427 B.C., in Athens; died there 348 or 347 B.C. Ancient Greek philosopher. Plato was born into an aristocratic family. In circa 407 he met Socrates and became one of hismost enthusiastic pupils. After the death of Socrates, Plato went to Megara. According to tradition,he visited Cyrene and Egypt. In 389 he went to southern Italy and Sicily, where he associated withthe Pythagoreans. Plato founded his own school in Athens (Plato’s Academy). In 367 and 361 he again visited Sicily.In 361 he went there at the invitation of the ruler of Syracuse, Dionysius the Younger, who hadexpressed his intention of putting Plato’s political ideas into practice. Like Plato’s previous attemptsto establish contact with men in power, this trip ended in complete failure. Plato spent theremainder of his life in Athens, where he wrote a great deal and delivered lectures. Almost all of Plato’s works are dialogues, most of which are conducted by Socrates. In languageand composition the dialogues are distinguished for their high literary quality. The early period ofPlato’s work (roughly the 390’s B.C.) is represented by the Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Laches,Lysis, Charmides, Protagoras, and Book 1 of the Republic. The Socratic method of analyzingparticular concepts is presented in these dialogues, which are dominated by moral questions.Associated with a transitional period (the 380’s B.C.) is another group of works, including the''Gorgias, Meno, Euthydemus, Cratylus'', and Hippias Minor, which contain the embryo of the theoryof ideas and criticize the relativism of the Sophists. The mature period of Plato’s work (370’s and360’s B.C.) is represented by the Phaedo, Symposium, and Phaedrus; Books 2–10 of the Republic(the theory of ideas); and the Theaetetus, Parmenides, Sophist, Politi-cus, Philebus, Timaeus, and''Critias''. In these works Plato shows an interest in problems of structure and logic and presents histheory of epistemology, as well as the dialectics of categories and of the cosmos. The late periodof the philosopher’s work (350’s B.C.) is represented by the Laws Plato’s philosophy is not expounded systematically in his works, which strike the modern scholaras a vast laboratory of thought. Thus, the Platonic system has to be reconstructed. Its mostimportant parts are the theory of the three basic ontological substances (the One, the Intellect, andthe Soul) and the related theory of the cosmos. According to Plato, the basis of all being is theOne, which in itself is devoid of attributes and parts, has neither beginning nor end, does notoccupy space, and cannot move, because motion requires change (that is, plurality). Among theattributes that cannot be applied to the One are identity, difference, and similarity. Nothing can besaid of the One, which is higher than all being, sensation, and thinking. Concealed in this source(the One) are not only the ideas (forms, or eide) of things (that is, their substantial spiritualprototypes and principles, to which Plato ascribes an extratemporal reality), but also thingsthemselves and their coming into being, or becoming. In Plato’s theory the second substance, the Intellect (nous), which is generated by the One (or theGood), consists of being and light. The Intellect, which is pure and unmixed, is carefullydifferentiated by Plato from everything that is material, physical, and going through the process ofbecoming: the Intellect is intuitive, and its object is the essence of things, not their becoming. Thedialectical conception of the Intellect is completed with a cosmological concept: the Intellect is thegeneric, mental generalization of all living beings, as well as a living entity, or life itself asmanifested in ultimate generalization, order, perfection, and beauty. The Intellect is embodied in thecosmos—specifically, in the regular and eternal movement of the heavens. The third substance, or World Soul, unites the Intellect and the corporeal world. The Soul receivesthe laws of its movement from the Intellect, from which it differs in its perpetual mobility —theprinciple of self-movement. The Intellect is incorporeal and immortal. The Soul, which is immortaland is associated with the truth and the eternal ideas, unites the Intellect with the corporeal worldby means of something beautiful, proportioned, and harmonious. The individual soul is the imageand outflow of the World Soul. Plato spoke of the immortality or, more precisely, the eternalrejuvenation of the body together with the soul. Death is the transition of the body to another state. The ideas are the ultimate generalization, meaning, and meaningful essence of things, as well asthe very principle by which they are apprehended. Ideas possess not only a logical but also acertain artistic structure. Inherent in them is their own ideal matter, the shaping of which permitsthem to be comprehended aesthetically. The beautiful also exists in the ideal world as theembodiment of an idea—the ultimate form and intellectual anticipation of all possibleapproximations of an idea. The beautiful is, in a sense, an organism of an idea, or, more precisely,the idea as an organism. Further dialectical development of the prototype leads to the intellect,soul, and body of the cosmos, resulting in the creation of beauty in its final form for the first time.The cosmos, which perfectly reproduces the eternal prototype or pattern (“paradigm”), is morebeautiful than anything else. This doctrine is closely related to the Platonic theory of cosmicproportions. For Plato, matter is only the principle of a partial functioning of an idea—its abridgment, diminution,or obscuring. Matter is a “receptacle” and “nurse” for ideas. In itself, it is absolutely formless,containing neither earth, water, air, nor any other physical element. Matter is not being; only theideas are being. Sharply criticizing the separation of ideas from things, Plato formulated the veryarguments that Aristotle later directed against alleged Platonic dualism. For Plato, genuine being isideal being, which exists in itself and is merely “present” in matter. Matter first comes intoexistence by imitating, associating with, or “participating” in ideal being. In the last years of his life Plato revised his teaching about the ideas in conformity withPythagoreanism, seeking the source of the ideas in “ideal numbers.” This trend in his thought wasimportant in the development of Neoplatonism. The foundation of Plato’s theory of epistemology is the ecstasy of love for the idea. Thus, ecstasyand cognition prove to be an indissoluble whole. With brilliant artistry, Plato depicted the ascentfrom physical love to love in the realm of souls, and from there to the realm of pure ideas. Heinterpreted the synthesis of love (eros) and cognition as a special kind of rapture and ecstasy, orerotic enthusiasm, and he gave a mythological description of cognition as the soul’s remembranceof its heavenly birthplace, where it apprehended every idea directly. For Plato, the basic science that determines all other fields of knowledge is the dialectic—a methodof dividing the one into many, of reducing the many to one, and of providing a structuralrepresentation of the whole as the many in one. Entering the realm of confused things, the dialecticdivides and separates them so that each receives its own meaning and its own idea. The meaningor idea of a thing is taken as the principle of the thing, as its “hypothesis,” its law {nomos), which,according to Plato, leads from diffuse sensibility to an ordered idea, and vice versa. This isprecisely the meaning of the “Logos” in Plato’s work. The dialectic, therefore, is a method ofestablishing the intellectual foundations of things, their objective a priori categories or conceptualforms. The progression from Logos to idea to hypothesis to foundation is also regarded as the limit(the “aim”) of sensory becoming, a universal aim that appears as the Good in the Republic,Philebus, and Gorgias and as Beauty in the Symposium. The limit on the realization (the becoming)of a thing contains a condensed version of the entire formative process of a thing and serves as itsblueprint and structure. Thus, Plato’s dialectic is also a theory of indivisible wholes, and as such, itis simultaneously discursive and intuitive. The dialectic can perform all possible logical divisionsand at the same time combine everything into one. According to Plato, the dialectician possessesthe “combined vision” of the sciences and “sees all at one time.” The individual soul possesses three capacities—the intellectual, the volitional, and the emotional,of which the first has primacy. In Plato’s ethics there are three corresponding virtues: wisdom,courage, and an illuminated emotional state. They are united into one complete virtue, justice,which represents the equilibrium of its three components. A similar triadic division is found in Plato’s political thought, in the theory of the three estates:philosophers, who govern on the basis of their contemplation of the ideas; warriors, whose maingoal is to defend the state from internal and external enemies; and laborers (peasants and artisans),who give the state material support by supplying it with vital resources. Plato distinguished threeprincipal forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Each is further subdividedinto two forms. A monarchy may be lawful (headed by a king) or based on force (headed by atyrant). Aristocracy may be the rule of the best or the rule of the worst (oligarchy). Democracy maybe lawful or unlawful (based on force). Plato sharply criticized all six forms of government andpresented an ideal, Utopian model for state and social organization. According to Plato, kingsshould be philosophers, and philosophers should be kings. But only a few contemplators of the truthcould qualify for this role. Plato developed a detailed theory of social and personal upbringing for thephilosophers and warriors, but he did not make it applicable to the “laborers.” He called for theabolition of private property, for the communal sharing of wives and children, for the state regulationof marriages, and for the public upbringing of children, who were not to know the identity of theirparents. K. Marx described the utopia presented in Plato’s Republic as “the Athenian idealization ofthe Egyptian system of castes” (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch, 2nd ed., vol. 23, p. 379). In Plato’s aesthetics, beauty is understood as the absolute interpenetration of body, soul, and mindand as the blending of idea and matter, of reason and pleasure, with proportion serving as theguiding principle. Plato does not separate cognition from love or love from beauty (the Symposium,Phaedrus). Thus, all beauty—seen and heard, external or physical—is animated by its own internallife and contains some meaning. Plato regarded beauty in this sense as the ruling force and thesource of life for all living things. For Plato, the beauty of life and real being is superior to that of art. Being and life are the imitationof external ideas; art, an imitation of being and life, is an imitation of an imitation. Consequently,Plato banished Homer from the ideal republic, even though he had greater regard for him than forany other Greek poet. The ideal state was to be a creation of life and not of fantasies, howeverbeautiful. Plato also banned sad, enervating, and Anacreontic music from the ideal state, permittingonly martial, courageous, or calming music. Morality and decency are considered necessaryconditions for beauty. Although he did not reject the gods of traditional mythology, Plato demanded that they bephilosophically purged of crude, immoral, and fantastic elements. He believed that most of themyths should not be studied by children at an impressionable age. Myth, according to Plato, issymbol. He used mythology to present the periods and ages of the cosmos, the cosmic movementof the gods and of souls in general, and similar phenomena. Plato is historically important as a philosopher because he consistently thought through the basicprinciples of objective idealism. Thus, V. I. Lenin termed the entire idealist line in philosophy “theline of Plato” (Poln. sobr. soch, 5th ed., vol. 18, p. 131). Plato’s ideas served as the starting pointfor a tradition of Platonism and Neoplatonism that has lasted many centuries. WORKS Opera…. vols. 1–3. Edited by H. Stephanus. Geneva, 1578. Opera, vols. 1–5. Edited by J. Burnet. Oxford, 1956–62. In Russian translation: Soch, vols. 1–3. Moscow, 1968–72. REFERENCES Asmus, V. F. Istoriia antichnoi filosofii. Moscow, 1965. Chapter 4. Asmus, V. F. Platon. Moscow, 1969. Losev, A. F. Ocherki antichnogo simvolizma i mifologii, vol. 1. Moscow, 1930. Losev, A. F. Istoriia antichnoi estetiki: Sofisty, Sokrat, Platon. Moscow, 1969. (References.) Losev, A. F. Istoriia antichnoi estetiki (Vysokaia klassika). Moscow, 1974. Ritter, C. Platon: Sein Leben, seine Schriften, seine Lehre, vols. 1–2. Munich, 1910–23. Natorp, P. Platos Ideenlehre, 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1921. Zeller, E. Die Philosophie der Griechen …, 6th ed., part 2, vol. 1. Darmstadt, 1963. Pages 389–982. Gould, J. The Development of Plato’s Ethics. Cambridge, 1955. Stenzel, J. Platon der Erzieher, 2nd ed. Hamburg 1961. Ross, W. D. Plato’s Theory of Ideas, 2nd ed. Oxford, 1961. Hoffmann, E. Platon. Hamburg, 1961. Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. von. Platon, 5th ed., vols. 1–2. Berlin, 1959–62. Friedlä nder, P. Platon, 3rd ed., vols. 1–2. Berlin, 1964. Wyller, E. A. Der späte Platon. Hamburg, 1970. Gigon, O. A. Platon. Bern, 1965. Totok, W. Handbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie, vol. 1. Frankfurt am Main, 1964. Pages 146–212. A. F. LOSEV